Study of the effects of diet rich in fructose and vitamin's role in regulating inflammation in acute renal injury model in zebrafish

Abstract

Kidney diseases have a high prevalence in the world's population and can be classified into two subtypes, acute renal failure, when there is loss of kidney function rapidly in a period of hours for days or chronic kidney disease when the kidney damage occurs slowly in a period. The causes of kidney injury are varied, including genetic predisposition, infection, exposure to toxins and medicines, however, more causes associated with chronic kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure, causing permanent damage to the kidney which if untreated may result in renal failure. To better understand the mechanisms involved in kidney disease, To better understand the mechanisms involved in kidney disease, experimental models that reproduce the complexity of elements involved in the pathology of this disease are indispensable. In addition, the study of immunotherapies, as supplementation with vitamin D, which has immunomodulary, able to regulate inflammation without sacrificing the ability to fight against infections is of great interest for the treatment of metabolic and renal diseases. In these questions, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) stands out as an experimental model for being sensitive to small doses of drugs, fast, robust and economical, own genome sequenced and present high genetic similarity with humans. So the zebrafish has been increasingly used as models of human diseases and drug test, increasing so much that there are models of renal injury have already been successfully established in this animal model. The high prevalence of kidney diseases in the world population, together with the increase in the rate of metabolic diseases that may be related to the consumption of sugar-rich foods in the last decades, makes it imperative to understand if there is a correlation between hyperglycemic diet, inflammation increase and predisposition to kidney disease. Therefore, this project proposes to investigate whether consumption of a diet rich in fructose could provoke inflammation in zebrafish larvae and increase the predisposition of these animals to acute renal injury and whether vitamin D could play a beneficial role in the regulation of renal injury.